Hot Gimmick manga synopsis.

These synopsis are done by Zahara Medina and can't be used anywhere else without her consent. As she is just a student of Japanese, there are bound to be mistakes. If you spot any mistake, please report it to me, thanks! :) (comments are also appreciated....)
Please remember to support your favorite authors by buying the Japanese tankoubon or official translations.

Note: B/w scans are from the magazine, where the print is in low quality paper and different ink colors so it sometimes scans pretty bad and leaves lots of noise in the picture. The tankoubon quality is, of course, much better (perfect, that is).

Note 2: Ryouki is the direct katakana reading used for the kanji in his name, but the romanization of it seems to be Lyoki. I'm using Ryouki because it's easier for the reader.

Part 33 (Nov'2003) [ vol.08 ]
Shinogu stops Ryouki from taking Hatsumi with him. Hatsumi doesn't understand why Ryouki slapped her, while Ryouki tries to tell himself he was right. Later Tachibana's maid takes Hatsumi to Ryouki's secret place in the building (at the top of the stairs) and engages him in a talk about Hatsumi while she listens. Ryouki says that he can't understand why it seems it's only him who wants to be with her and who wants to talk and meet. He then realizes Hatsumi was listening. Hatsumi says she is sorry and that she really wanted to talk to him and tell him everything that happened while he was away. They make up.
Part 34 (Dec'2003) [ vol.08 ]
Ryouki leaves his home in the morning and his father comments on his shiny appearance and wonders if it is because of the young woman they saw him with. Ryouki's mother tells him that was Narita's oldest daughter and gets mad at the mention of them going out. She says that it's natural for Ryouki to look at women since he is a guy, but that she has made her decision on his girlfriend already... At Narita's household, Akane runs out of the home, telling Hatsumi that she promised to go get Subaru and that if she doesn't arrive in time he will start to feel embarrassed. Azusa is waiting in the stairs landing and tells Hatsumi he is surprised about Akane and Subaru. Hatsumi and Azusa tells her he knows he's been wrong about his way of doing things about her father and that after his talks with Shinogu... Hatsumi is still worried about the papers she saw at Shinogu's place so she tries to find out what he and Azusa talked about thinking it's about that, but Azusa is surprised at these news and starts to push her for more information. Of course Ryouki arrives and drags her away. On their way to school Ryouki and Hatsumi have another "don't look at other boys" conversation which degenerates into a "becoming a real girlfriend" conversation and so Hatsumi spends the rest of the morning thinking about what lays beyond kissing. After school, when Hatsumi returns home, a really beautiful girl with glasses stops her because of her school uniform and it turns out they go to the same school, however the girl is very patronizing and insults Hatsumi. Ryouki's mother appears and welcomes the girl, Ruri SAIONJI, who is in very familiar terms with Ryouki's mother. Hatsumi is forced to go upstairs with them to the Tachibana apartment, where Shinogu is also waiting because of his home teacher "job." A very uncomfortable conversation ensues in which Ryouki's mother and Ruri parade all of Ruri's wonderful and top-notch qualities in front of Hatsumi and finish by saying they hope Ryouki will "wake up" soon (aka, leave Hatsumi). Shinogu gets fed up and says they are leaving, but then Ryouki arrives home. Ryouki demands to know what's going on and Ryouki's mother says that Ruri wanted to study with him, and since she is really in his level (as opposed to Hatsumi, hint, hint -_-; )... Ryouki looks at Hatsumi and Shinogu and catches on right away and tells her mom he prefers to study with Hatsumi. Ryouki's mother tries to send Hatsumi away and Hatsumi doesn't fight back, which doesn't seem to do well with Ryouki. However when Ruri pushes him and tries to take his hand... Hatsumi finally speaks up and says she doesn't like to see him with other girls. Ryouki smiles, utterly ditches his mother and Ruri and takes Hatsumi away. But naturally in Ryouki's next after school Toudai(*) entrance exams preparation class (*2), Ruri appears. (*: Toudai (Tou = from Toukyou; dai = from daigaku, university) is the "nickname" for Tokyo University, one of the top universities in the country and very hard to get into. It's also known as "T-dai.") (*2: Many students go to after school classes specialized in entrance exams for high school entrance exams and university entrance exams. Because the university you get into practically decides what kind of jobs you will have later on (although this is changing now), and not so much what grades you get while at it, most students try to get into the best universities. University entrance exams for top schools are very hard. Generally speaking, students usually start seriously studying and preparing for the exams when they enter third (and last) grade of high school.) Elevator schools: While we are at it, let's mention the ever-famous "elevator schools," which are schools that range all the way into university, so if you are lucky enough to get into one of these, you don't have to worry about passing entrance exams, not even from high school into university level (unless you wish to go to another university, of course). As you can guess, these type of elevator schools are few in-between, booked for many years in advance, and usually reserved for the rich and powerful. ;)
Part 35 (Jan'2004) [ vol.08 ]
(beta version) Hatsumi gets trouble from her mom about going out with Ryouki. She ends up having a part-time job as a waitress at the place where Shinogu works, and finds that Asahi is working there (Subaru's older sister who likes Shinogu). They follow Shinogu after work and find out he is meeting with Azusa in a night club. Hatsumi asks them what they are talking about and asks if it's about the adoption dissolution forms she found at Shinogu's place.
Part 36 (Feb'2004) [ vol.08 ]
Shinogu tells Hatsumi he had been planning on leaving the family for a long time. Hatsumi leaves the club with Asahi (Subaru's sister) thinking that Shinogu can't stand being part of her family. Ryouki is running late and finds them in the street, to his surprise, Hatsumi goes to him. Asahi agitatedly tells her that the reason Shinogu doesn't want to be in their family is because he is in love with her and says Hatsumi is a bad person for thinking of Shinogu that way (and not preferring Shinogu to Ryouki). Ryouki asks "so what?" He says that's Shinogu's feelings are his own and it doesn't involve them. Ryouki takes a very confused Hatsumi away and comforts her. At home, Hatsumi's mother tells her she is worried about Shinogu working too hard because he wants to pay all his expenses since the family has already other three kids in the "expenses queue" (for university and such). She says it seems Shinogu wanted to enter medical school and there was no problem with it except that it was too expensive, so he (declined? postponed? it, and) started working at many part-time jobs, as well as helping around the house. Next day when Hatsumi arrives at the bar, she finds Shinogu is lying down because he has been working too hard. She tells him she is sorry she didn't think about his feelings and because of what Asahi said, she finds it a bit exciting to be with him. Before he can answer and they can have any conversation, she is called away to work and tells Shinogu to rest for a little longer. As she helps cleaning the dishes she thinks Shinogu has always been there for her, and now it's her turn to make him happy. Random Scenes: [ 01 ] [ 02 ]

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